A massive-looking Devin Haney is back in the gym training for what is expected to be a December comeback against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Haney posted a photo of him training with his father, Bill Haney, on Instagram.
Size-wise, Haney looks to be a healthy 170s lbs, which is close to his fighting weight for his fights at 140. He hasn’t said whether he plans to return to 140, 147, or 154.
It would be a good idea for Haney to fight at junior middleweight rather than endure the physical ordeal of losing 25+ lbs to get down to 140, which would put his health at risk.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) could be taking a warmup to help build interest in a rematch with Ryan Garcia in early 2025. Even a tune-up fight will be risky for Haney because he must fight a contender that fans have heard of.
It can’t be like fans saw with last weekend’s PBC card with A-side fighters all facing scrubs on the ultra-expensive Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga PPV card in Las Vegas. Haney will need to fight someone who at least has a fighting chance of winning.
Options for Haney’s Tune-up
– Brian Mendoza
– Jesus Ramos
– Israil Madrimov
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Gabriel Valenzuela
Haney must look good in his tune-up because he resembled a punching bag in his fight against Ryan on April 20th, losing a 12-round majority decision.
Although the defeat was later cleansed from Devin’s record due to Garcia’s positive test for a banned PED, it doesn’t erase the image fans had of Haney getting hurt repeatedly. After that fight, there are questions about whether Haney can still take a hard shot without dropping to the canvas.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said this week that he thinks Haney should take a soft tune-up because another loss would destroy his career, which is already on the rocks after the pummeling he took from Ryan. However, Hearn doubts whether Haney will accept less than $4 million for a fight.
Haney will only get that kind of money if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh chooses to use him for one of his Riyadh Season events. Turki doesn’t mess around. He would insist on Haney earning money by fighting someone with talent who could knock him into the next galaxy if his punch resistance hasn’t improved.
Without Turki stepping in, Haney must take a giant pay cut for his tune-up because he won’t get massive money to fight against a scrub. Haney wants the rematch with Ryan, but he can forget about that if he loses his tune-up fight.
Breaking 🚨Devin Haney has posted new photos on his instgram story. He is preparing for his return. Bill is still his coach. Rumor is devin will return in December pic.twitter.com/cmrwZgtSwM
— Saint 🐬☠️ (@CanesJ79744) September 17, 2024
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